Four Wolverines Selected for Team USA World Championship Roster
5/5/2022 12:20:00 PM | Ice Hockey
ANN ARBOR, Mich. -- Four current and former members of the University of Michigan ice hockey team have been selected to compete for the United States at the 2022 IIHF Men's World Championship, USA Hockey announced on Thursday (May 5).
Wolverines representing Team USA will be Thomas Bordeleau, Nick Blankenburg, Luke Hughes and Strauss Mann.
The World Championship will be held May 13-29 in Tampere and Helsinki, Finland. The 16 teams, split into Groups A and B, will play a round-robin format in the preliminary round with the top four teams from each group advancing to the quarterfinals. USA will be in Group B and face Latvia in the first game of the tournament on May 13.
A 2022 graduate of Michigan, Blankenburg signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets after captaining the Wolverines to a Big Ten Championship and Frozen Four appearance this season. In seven games with Columbus, Blankenburg had one goal and two assists. This season in the maize and blue, he scored 14 goals and 15 assists for 29 points, added 47 blocked shots and was a +17.
Bordeleau signed with the San Jose Sharks on April 19 and had five assists in eight games in the National Hockey League. He was a point-per-game player for the Wolverines this season with 12 goals and added 25 assists in 37 games. He won 56.2 percent of his faceoffs -- 353 wins overall -- and was a +18.
A finalist for the Tim Taylor Rookie of the Year and Hobey Baker Award, Hughes led the nation's defensemen in points. In 41 games, he scored 17 goals and had 22 assists for 39 points. The Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Year was a +25 as he led all rookies in scoring.
Mann signed with San Jose Sharks on April 19 after his first professional season in the Swedish Hockey League. In 22 games for Skelleftea, Mann posted a 13-8-1 record, with a .914 save percentage and a 2.09 goals-against average. Named to the 2022 U.S. Olympic Team, Mann went 1-1 with a .945 save percentage and a 1.85 GAA.
This marks the seventh time in the last nine World Championships that players coming off a season with Michigan have been selected for the event. Matty Beniers and Owen Power played last year, with Power and Canada winning gold and Beniers and USA taking bronze.
Forty-one Wolverines have played in the World Championship, including 33 for the United States, seven for Canada and one for Austria. Michigan players have brought home 16 medals (four gold, two silver and 10 bronze).
